Tennessee will be holding a press conference to officially welcome new head coach Jeremy Pruitt this evening at 6:05. The video stream is embedded below so we GRTers can watch it and talk about it right here. I’ll be doing my best to paraphrase on the fly in the comment section below for anyone who’s not able to watch the video.

Brad will be along shortly after the press conference concludes with his recap and thoughts, and then he, Will, and I will be recording a live-streamed podcast starting at 8:30.

So, watch for all of that here tonight. It’s been a good day on Rocky Top, and even better days are ahead.

Davenport’s opening statements: Only been a week since introducing Fulmer as AD. He’s the most dedicated Vol I’ve ever met. Vicki says it’s a calling, and I’ve seen that this week. Thanks to all the family for giving him back to us. Today, he’s brought us a new coach. I couldn’t be happier to be delivering the news. Fulmer has been full in. Worked tirelessly. I’m confident that Jeremy Pruitt is That Person for This PRogram at This time. Thanks to Pruitt for choosing Tennessee, taking this on. Welcome to the family. Really excited you’re going to be part of… Read more »

Fulmer’s comments: It’s been great to work with Davenport this week. I’d gotten to know her a bit before this, but having the oppotunity to work with her closely, I learned that she’s all in. She asked tought question to make sure we got he right person. She cares about UT, and I saw it firsthand these past few days. I’ve spent 5 days interviewing, coordinators from both O and D backgrounds. My charge to all stakeholders was to go find the best coach to get our proud football program back to the championship level. First want to thank Casey,… Read more »

Pruitt’s remarks: That phone theat went off was my dad’s. I’m honored and humbled to be the coach at Tennessee. Tradition. Grew up N. AL just by the Tennessee river. I grew up knowing all about UT. Neyland, Dickey, Majors, FUlmer. Smokey. There was a time and place that this palce was feared. My goal as head football coach is to get us back to that point. Thank you to Davenport, she can recruit for you. Excited about getting athletes in here, hope she will recruit for us. Dr. Joe, thanks. Fulmer, it’s rare to be able to work for… Read more »

A: You don’t look in the rear view. I’m looking forward. Ntohing happened last yeear is going to determine next year. We laid out a plan. When their legs start shaking and they start leaning in, you got ’em. Now we need to take it day by day. Here’s your first test. If you got a 65, get it to a 70. If you want to have a ssuccess, you need to learn how to finish.

A: I’m going back to why, I got into this for th kids. I’m all in for Tennessee. Until dead period, I’m working at UT. We’re starting. I also have a commitment to the kids at AL. Saban has been wonderful, after dead period starts, I’m going to coach them. It’s about the kids. I’m going to go back and finish.

A: We’ll take our time and find the right fit, people of integrity, good teachers, people that are loyal and can recruit. It doesn’t matter if you’re from Tennessee, Alaska, you just have to be willing to get out there and sell it.

A: Stallings used to always say, the most important thing is his eyes. Saban, numerous things. Organization. I started from ground zero his first year, very similar situation. How did we do it? I’ve worked for him in three different capacities. I’ve learned as much from my dad as I have anyone else.

A: I wanted to be like my dad, a HS football coach. When you surround yourself with good people, if you work hard, do your job, opportunities happen. This should inspire Hs coaches across the country. You’ll have an opportunity.

Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a head coach at college level?

A: Three or four, I was with Dad. When I was six or seven. I decided I might not want to do it. Dad was having a losing record. He was running the same play over and over. I got smart with him (good story), I thought I might get out that night.

A: Early signing period. We have to ID who fits at UT, then we have to get in front of them and recruit them. You worry about the ones you get, not the ones you don’t. We’ll target, critical factors at every position. What are their intangibles, are they leaders, are they dependable? Do they have issues? We don’t want to sign someone who doesn’t fit that.

Don’t get out of whack at early signing period. We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.

A: I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think we couldn’t get there. We’ll have success here. Our goal is to dominate our opponent every day. Right now our opponent is in the mirror. We need to dominate the states that border us. Plus a couple others.

Fresh breath of air in Jerey. Let’s all get on board and follow his lead.

Q: How did Pruitt convince you he wanted to be here?

A: Nobody I talked to didn’t want to be at Tennessee. His energy, enthusiasm, intensity, background, appealed to me greatly. You can see and feel his passion. He cares about young people. Talked to them about academics today, their character, not spring practice. That appealed to me.

A: Chuckle. I hope he does as well or better. I’m here to support him. I’ve seen it at it’s absolute best here when everyone’s communicating. I’ve seen it when it hasn’t been very good. He’s a guy who can lead his football team. Everybody needs to pull in the same direction. Fans, boosters, everybody. You ahve a better chance to do well when you’re pulling together than when you’re pulling apart.

A: He’s been on a lot of radars. He passed on all of our criteria. He expects to do well. He has a lot of work to do. Starting with finals. Finishing up with this class. Help them make decisions. Mid-term guys, spring practice. We should make progress toward our goals every day.

Me, I’m looking forward to spending time with some other sports and coaches now. I like my chances with this coach.

A: My charge was to find the best coach, and that’s what we did. Re recruiting, was it fun, yes, it was exhausting, but fun. I’m a grinder, always been a grinder. Then you get to a place of conviction.

A: He’s been in a lot of roles. He won’t have a problem walking into an offensive staff room and figuring out what they’re doing. It takes something special to be able to lead; he has that. He gets the communication and trust with others to get everyone moving forward.

A: I interview offensive coaches as well. It wasn’t really much of a factor. There is an intensity, passion, toughness, that comes from playing defense in this league. LOS gives you your best chance to be successful in the SEC. If your’e not physical, tough, tackling well, you’ll have a hard time winning. It’s ahrd to be cute and win in this conference. As you can tell, Coach is not a very cute guy.